galaxies without number

This glorious photograph was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995. It's from the Hubble Deep Field, an image of a small region of space about a thirteeth of a Full Moon wide. Almost 3,000 galaxies were found in this tiny patch of sky, including those dots and spirals of light in the photograph above!

Which brought new meaning for me to this post by John Piper, where he talks about why God's universe is so enormous, and humankind, the crown of his creation, so very small:

The heavens are not designed to declare the glory of man. “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalms 19:1). ... Man must reside on tiny planet earth in a seemingly infinite universe. ... Only God is infinite. The universe is declaring that. Pretty well.

Pinnacle of creation? Maybe. Point of creation? No. The point of creation is God's glory, and the glory of his Son.

The universe is not really about us at all. It's about God, and the glory of his Son. God made all things through and for his Son, who will one day wrap it all up and give it back to his Father for his glory (John 17:1-5, 1 Cor. 15:20-28, Col. 1:15-20). Which is why we were made too.

Glory be to the God who shaped astoundingly beautiful galaxies without number, including this galaxy where our tiny planet spins at one edge. Who made this universe so much huger and more wonderful than we can ever imagine.

A fitting witness to the glory of its Creator, who is ever beyond our ability to comprehend, but who overwhelms our minds and moves our hearts with His glory.

Amen!

Image reproduced with thanks to NASA and STScI.